Gravity toy



, Nov. 17,1 1,561,614 J. J. MAHAN' GRAVITY TOY Filed April 15, 1922 4Sheets-Sheet 1 avweutoz Nov. 17,192 1,561,614

J. J. MAHAN I GaAvITYmoY Filed April is, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet s ElvwzmtozNov. 17, 1925. 1,561,614

.1. J. MAHAN GRAVITY TOY Filed April 15, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 l E J. E;6 lvwemto'a M. $111,451 11am,

" operated by balls or marbles.

Patented Nov. 17, 1925.

JAMES J. MAELAN, (It? NEW JERFSEY.

' ,G'RAVITY TOY,

Application filed, a d

To all whom it may C'O/ICLZI'I'L.

Be it known that 1, JAMES J. Mai-inn, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson, Sate of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGravity Toys, of which the following is a specification.

The improvements relate to mechanical toys adapted to be operatedauton'iatically by the gravity of some fluent material placed therein,such as sand, marbles, grain, and the like, and relate more particutarlyto toys of this character adapted to be Their objects are, among others,to produce a toy of this kind of very simple, strong and durableconstruction, and which may be easily dismembered and reassembled, whichwill be instructive, as well as interesting and amusing in itsoperation, and will act under all ordinary conditions of use withcertainty and precision.

The present improvements are 111 the nature of an improvement on theinvention of Letters Patent of the United States No. 11119266, grantedto the present inventor March 5, 1912, and are intended in part to applysome of the features of the said patented invention to a toy adapted toemploy coarser material than sand.

The improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of a toy embodying the improvements; Fig. 2is a similar view of the gate and hopper for feeding the marbles andadjacent part-s, some of these parts be- .ing shown in vertical section;Fig. 3 is a front view of the toy; Fig. 4t is a plan with the upper binremoved and the cart in position to receive the marble from thevertically operating car; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4. with thecart near the bottom of its incline: Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1,and Fig. 7 a view similar to Fig. 2 of a modified form.

Referring to the preferred construction, the base 1 is composed of a rodor wire bent to form a lateral support for the toy and having its ends 2turned upwardly to receive sleeves 3, in the upper part of which thelower ends of the upright frame 4t are held. At the front the wireforming the base is turned. upwardly and backwardly as shown at 5, toform a standard. for operating the gate of the cart 6. i

Serial Ito. 553,174.

The upright frame at is bent baekwardly at its top to form an angularloop 7 supporting the bin or trough 8 for the marbles, and the car 9travels up and down on this upright frame between the bin and the cart 6which moves up and down the incline track 10. An elongated tray 1.1receives the marbles when they are discharged from the cart, and whenthis tray is filled it may be removed frontwards or backwards and themarbles dumped therefrom into the bin 8 at the top. Thetray is made of apiece of sheet material bent to form a trough closed at its ends and asupport therefor, the metal being turned down at the edges, as shown at12, so as to support the trough in a position slightly inclined fromfront to back, and the forward end 13 of the trough extending beyond thesupporting sides to a position beneath the bottom of the upright 5 toreceive the marbles as they roll therefrom. The part 5 therefore acts asa guide or track for the marbles discharged from the cart as well as atrip for the gate of the cart.

The inclined t 'aclr is supported at its lower end by the shoulders 1stof the base, which receive the jaws 15 at its extremity, and at itsupper end by the bar 16 secured to the members of the upright frame atand spanning the space between them, a T-slot 17 receiving the saidbars. The bar 16 is fixed to the uprights by having its ends turnedaround them tightly, and acts also as a gage to position the saidupright members accurately in the sleeves 2. These uprights preferablybeing forced down inside the sleeves until the ends of the bar are incontact with the upper edges of the sleeves. The wheels of the cart runin grooves 18, and the movement of the car in a downwa d direction islimited by the post 5 and in an upward direction by the depending armsof the gate 19 on the car. The marbles 20, which are delivered one byone are held in the cart 6 and prevented from escaping from the loweropen end thereof by the gate 21, provided with an extension 22 adaptedto strike against the post 5 when the car reaches the bottom of theinclined track and raise the gate so as to permit the marble to escape.The gate normally rests on the step 2-3 of the cart 6 and is pivotedthereon by having its inturned ends loosely received by holes 24. i

The car .9 is open at its front, and has guides 25 loosely engaging theside members of the upright frame 4:, formed by punching out parts ofthe sheet material in its sides to form double flanges. Its bottom isinclined outwardly, so that the marbles or their units will passtherefrom by gravity, and its open front is provided with a verticallysliding gate 19 operating in grooves 26 and adapted to be raised bycontact with the bottom plate of the track 10, to permit the marble tofall from the car 9 to the cart 6, when the said car arrives at thebottom. 1

The bin 8 is supported at its outer end by the brace 27 received by aslot 28 and composed of a rod or wire bent double and having lowerinturned ends supported in holes 99 in the depending sides of the trackmember 10.

7 made of resilient rods or wire and sheet metal having a certain degreeof resiliency they are easily assembled and taken apart by flexing theparts at their connections to connect or disconnect them. Thus the gateof the cart 6 may be spread and passed over the cart, and its inturnedends permitted to snap into the holes 2 the brace 27 positioned insimilar manner and the car 9 mounted on the upright lby spreadingtheside members or the upright, inserting the car between them until itsguides register therewith and then releasing; the said members. Likewiseby flexing the metal of the bin at the slot 30 the looped upper end 7 ofthe upright may be passed to the en larged bottom of said slots to forma secure connection. This is important in a toy of this character, as isalso the construction of the parts which'enables them to be arrangedfiatwise in approximately parallel relation for packing, storage andshipping, because it permits the manufacturer to pack and ship the partsin small packages or boxes, and also because it permits the user toassemble or take down the toy quickly and easily and without the use oftools of any hint. It also adds greatly to the strength and dura bilityof the device, since it will not be apt to break when subjected tounusual shocks and strains in use, but at most will be dismembered andcan be easily restored to operative condition.

The sheave 31 rotates on the horizontal portion of the loop 7 inside thebin, while the sheave 32 is supported in a bracket 33 at the upper endof the track member 10, and a line or cable 36 extends from the rear endof the gate up and over thetwo sheaves and down to the bail 3% of thecar, so that the, cart and car move simultaneously in oppositedirections. The line is of such length as to permit the two to meet atthe upper part at the incline 10, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. l,and to move to their lower and upper respective discharging and chargingpositions, and the length of the line or cable may be varied, by takingin or letting out at the tail of the cart, so as to give the properadjustment when needed.

The mechanism for releasing the marbles or other units and causing themto drop into the car one by one comprises a bail 35, formed of anattenuated metal strip bent to form an angular frame and having itsinturned horizontal upper ends 37 passed through the vertical slots 38in the sides of the bin 8, so that the member hangs therefrom, and abent arm 39 secured to the bottom of the bail and extending outwardlyand upwardly through an opening in the bottom oi. the bin and having abackwardly turned upper extremity e0. The bottom of the bin is stampedat 4-1 to form a recess for the member 1 0, so that the marbles w ll notbe obstructed therebywhen it is in its lower position, and the length ofthe slot 38 is such as to permit the bail to be raised to a point justabove the top of the marble, so that the marble can pass thereunder. henthe car 9 ascends its upper edge strikes the bail and raises it untilone of the marbles pass by gravity under its upper ends and falls intothe car 9, first striking in the basket formed by the converging bottommembers of the bail and the lower partol: the arm 39 and forcing thebail downwardly. This upward movement of the bail 'aises the upper endof the arm 39 and causes it to be interposed into the path of the nextmarble to prevent that marble from moving, but when the car descends thebail will fall of its own gravity, aided by the impulse which has beengiven it by the marble, to its lower position thus removing the upperend of the arm from the path of the marble and permitting it to movedown until it is checked by the upper ends ot the bail which are now inits path. This operation is repeated until all of the marbles areauton'iatically discharged from the bin.

lVhen the car reaches a point near the bottom of its downward movementthe depending arms of the gate 19 come in contact with the bottom'of thetrack member 10 and raises the gate so as to permit the marble to escapetherefrom and tall into the cart 6. The gravity of the marble causes thecar to descend and to draw the cartu'pwardly on the incline, and whenthe marble is dumped into the cart it causes the said cart" to movedownwardly to the low-er end of the incline and draw the car upwardl toreceive another marble. The cable being so adjusted that the cartdischarges its marble an instant before the car is recharged.

In the modified form illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 the track member isprovided with a stop 42 punched out of one side thereof, and

7 the gate 4-3 has an arm 44 hanging therefrom and at an angle thereto,in the path of which the stop or trip 42 is located, so that when thesaid arm strikes the said stop the gate will swing upwardly on its pivotin the car and release the marble. The bin in this case is composed of aframe 45- with inclined shelves 16 down which the marbles pass untilthey rest between the incline 47 and the gate member 18. lVhen the carstrikes the bottom member 49 of the gate the member 4-8 is raised,releasing the marble, and at the same time the detent member 50 movesupwardly into the path of the succeeding marble, as shown in Fig. 7, sothat but one marble can be discharged ata time. A guide 51 directs themarble through the opening 52, and the bottom shelf 47 is inclinedtoward the opening to direct the marble thereto. The gate member ismounted to slide up and down in openings in the lower shelf 46 andbottom portion 53 ofthe bottom shelf, so that it can have verticalmovement only. This gate member is preferably made of a single piece ofwire and falls by gravity as soon as it is released by the car. On theback of the bin 1-5 a bracket 54-. is secured upon which the sheavewheel 31 may be mounted by means of a pin run through these parts, butit is preferred to compress the bars of the upright frame 1 and snapthem between the clips 55 without dismountingthe sheave 31. This makesthe modified form of bin and preferred form interchangeable, withoutchanging any of the other parts.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of an upright frame, a car mounted to reciprocatethereon, a bin located at. the upperpart of said upright frame having anopening and an inclined portion leading thereto and adapted to containloose material and to permit it to gravitate down said inclined portionto said oponing, said opening being located adjacent to the position ofthe car when the said car is at the upper limit of its reciprocatingmovcment, a gate mounted to reciprocate vertically adjacent to the saidopening and nor mally located in the path of said material, and a memberconnected with and mounted to move with said gate and constructed andarranged to be interposed into the path of the material in the bin whenthe gate is opened, and means whereby the upward movement of the carcauses the said gate to open and the said member to be simultaneouslyinterposed into the path of the material, said member having a portionwhich is in the path of the downward movement 01' the material as itpasses from the bin. 1

2. In combination with the mechanism specified in claim 1, means forcausing the gate to be opened when the car moves to a position adjacentto the opening of the bin.

3. In combination with the mechanism specified in claim 1, a gate on thecar nor mally closed, and means for opening the said gate by the gravityof the car when the car reaches the bottom of its movement on the frame.

4. In the mechanism specified in claim 1,

the said portion forming the connection between the said member and thegate.

. 5. In combination wlth the mechanism specified in claim 1, a cartmovable to and upright thereon, an inclined track member supported bysaid frame and upright, a cart mounted to move along sald inclined trackmember, means for depositing fluent material on saidcart while itis atthe upper part of said inclined track member, and means for dischargingthe material from said cart when it reaches the lower part of said trackmember, comprising a gate pivoted on said cart and extending into thepath of said ma terial in normal position to hold the same in the cart,an arm connected with said gate extending outwardly and downwardly fromthe cart to a point below the same, a projection on the lower part ofthe track in the path of said arm and adapted to check the downwardmovement of said arm with the cart and causepivotal movement of the armand the gateon the cart, the connection be tween said gate andarmandtheir relative positions being such that the said pivotal movementmovesthe gate from the. path'o! the material.

7. The combination of a bottom frame, an upright extending therefrom, aninclined track member mounted on said base and upright, a car mounted totravel on said in clined track member, means for depositing fluentmaterial on said car at the upper part of said track member anddischarging the same therefrom at the lower part thereof, and areceptacle having a portion located adjacent to the point of discharge,and ex tending laterally therefrom on a plane in clined away from saidpoint, said receptacle being detachable from said base and having achannel for guiding said material.

8. The combination of a bottom frame, an upright thereon, an inclinedtrack member supported by said frame and upright, a cart mounted to movealong said inclined track member, means for depositing fluent materialon said cart while it is at the upper part of said inclined trackmember, and means for discharging the material from lit) said cart whenit reaches the lower part ofsaid track member, comprising a gatepivotedon said cart and extending into the path of said material in normalposition to hold the same in the cart, an arm connected with said gateextending outwardly and downwardly from the cart to a point below thesame, a projection on the lower part of the track in the path of saidarm and adapted to check the downward movement of said arm with the cartand cause pivotal movement of the arm and the gate on the cart, theconnection between said gate and arm and their relative positions beingsuch that the said pivotal movement moves the gate from the path of thematerial, the said gate normally extending on a line substantiallyparallelwith the line of gravitation of the material.

9. The combination of a base, an upright frame supported thereon andrigidly connected therewith, an inclined track member mounted betweensaid base and upright frame, said track being made of sheet metal, andsaid base and upright being made of spring metal, said inclined trackmember having open recesses therein to engage portions of the base andupright frame and said recesses having mouths through which the saidportions of the base and upright frame enter them spaced a greaterdistance apart than the distance between the portions of said base andmember received therein, and the said base and upright frame beingcapable of being flexed to enter the same and normally holding theinclined track member by spring action causing engagement of their saidportions with the recesses.

10. In a device of the character described, the combination of a base,an upright frame mounted thereon, an inclined track member mounted onthe said base and frame, a car mounted to reciprocate on the uprightframe, a cart mounted to travel along the inclined track member, a lineconnecting said car and cart, guides mounted on the said track memberand upright frame for the line, and a plurality of receptacles forholding fluent material, said receptacles being mou-ntable on saidupright frame and detachable therefrom, one of said receptacles having alongitudinal trough or way therein, and the other having guiding memberswhereby the material moves in a mean vertical direction.

11. The combination of an upright frame, a car mounted to reciprocatethereon, abin having a discharge opening adjacent to the car when thecar is in its upper position and adapted to contain fluent material in adivided state, a gate mounted to reciprocate adjacent to the opening ofsaid bin arranged to normally hold the said material and prevent it frompassing from the bin, and a member connected with said gate and spacedtherefrom, mounted to move vertically and in a plane parallel therewithwith said gate and to be interposed into the path of the material in thebin when the gate is opened, said member having a portion extending intothe path of said material as it leaves the bin. 7

12. In the combination of parts specified in. claim 11, said memberwhich is interposed into the path of thematerial in the bin being.rigidly connected with said gate.

13. In the combination of parts specified in claim 11, said member whichis interposed into the path of the material in the bin being normallylocated in the bottom of the bin and adapted to move upwardly into thepath of said material.

14. In the combination of parts specified in claim 11, the said memberwhich is interposed into the path of the material in the bin having aportion extending laterally therefrom within thebin.

15. The combination of an upright frame, a car mounted to reciprocatethereon, a bin having a discharge opening adjacent to the car when thecar is inits upper position and adapted to contain globular units a gatemounted to reciprocate adjacent to the discharge opening ofsaid binarranged to normally hold material in the bin and prevent it frompassing from the bin, and a member connected with said gate and mountedto move therewith but spaced therefrom adapted to be interposed into thepath of the material in the bin when the gate is opened, and a memberconnected with said gate extending into the path of said globular unitbetween thebin and the car to receive the impact of said unit as itpasses from the bin to the car.

lVitness my hand this 7th day of April, 1922, at the city of New York,in the county and State of New York.

JAMES J. MAHAN.

